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Fostering student success with the library as “the heart of the law school”
Tips for improving convenience, access and cost savings with LexisNexis® Digital Library
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Business Need: More Flexible, Cost-Effective Law Book and Study Aid Access Law students, practicing lawyers seeking a master’s
degree, evening students, clinic students … the Shepard
Broad College of Law at Nova Southeastern University in
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is known for putting innovation
into practice to meet wide-ranging student needs. With
students located on campus, across the state and across
the country—and some in international locations—
flexible access to library resources is essential. And with
mounting economic pressures on both students and
the library, everyone involved welcomes modern, cost-
effective resource tools.
Forging Digital Library Success
In late 2017, the Panza Maurer Law Library at Shepard
Broad College of Law began providing students, faculty
and staff with LexisNexis® Digital Library on-demand
access to study aids and practitioner titles, available from
anywhere. This initiative was designed to better meet the
needs of students—including those located remotely—
while saving students and the library money.
The offering includes unlimited web access to study
aids, plus limited online “seats” for access to practitioner
materials. LexisNexis® eBooks in the digital library
deliver an easy-to-read, book-like format, as well as tools
for search, highlighting and annotating, plus links to the
Lexis Advance® service.
What’s in the digital library? Practitioner content
includes Florida Bar materials focused on key practice
areas, plus titles like Corbin on Contracts, Moore’s Federal Rules Pamphlet, Punitive Damages, the U.S. Code Service,
and Representing the Child Client, authored by NSU
professor Michael J. Dale, JD.
The most popular digital library offerings are study
aids, including the Questions & Answers series, the
Understanding series, the Skills & Values series and the
Mastering series.
“The vision we have here—and this is from our director and dean—is that the library is the heart of the law school. So the library team has trained Student Services, the faculty assistants, Career Services, our academic skills faculty and others on how to use our resources.”
BECKA RICHSENIOR ASSOCIATE DIRECTORShepard Broad College of Law, Panza Maurer Law Library
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Becka Rich, senior associate library director, sees study aids
as key to student success. She noted, “One of the biggest
contributions the library can make in saving students money,
helping them succeed in their classes and preparing them
to pass the bar is to acquire and promote study aids for the
students to use.”
Despite convenient technology and helpful resources, the
digital library did not gain strong traction right away. One
factor: the launch happened well into the fall semester—at
a time when not many students and faculty were ready
to explore its capabilities. Rich teamed with Beth Parker,
assistant director of operations and collections, and
they sprang into action. Working with the library staff,
they promoted LexisNexis Digital Library to supporting
departments, faculty and student users to build awareness and
usage. Their plan was based on the following key realizations.
• Building adoption of new technology in today’s
complex educational environment calls for
planned outreach, timely reminders and varied training opportunities so that all types of users
can be aware and equipped as their needs arise.
• Digital capabilities need to be part of the law
school’s overall initiative to engage every
department in student success—with the library at the center.
The Questions & Answers series of study aids, one of the most popular among NSU law students, is available anywhere, anytime via LexisNexis Digital Library.
“A lightbulb goes off and they realize, ‘This is so cool. Can I get this off campus?’ And the answer is yes. Circulation closes at 9 p.m. After that, there are no more print study guides. So they have to rely on digital at that point.”
BETH PARKERASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS AND COLLECTIONSShepard Broad College of Law, Panza Maurer Law Library
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Said Rich, “The vision we have here—and this is from our
director and dean—is that the library is the heart of the law
school. So the library team has trained Student Services,
the faculty assistants, Career Services, our academic skills
faculty and others on how to use our resources.”
The results have been positive. Said Rich, “We’ve had
marketing professionals send us students who would
benefit from the digital library. We’ve had alumni send us
people. Faculty assistants have sent students to us. It really
does take a village—the entire law school—to help our
students succeed.”
Parker agreed: “It not only takes a village, but it takes
everyone working in cooperation, every department that
has some touchpoint with students.”
Parker emphasized the importance of providing students
with very clear, specific guidance when they need it. “If you
look at it in terms of how many databases schools subscribe
to, students are overwhelmed. … We have to promote the
study aids and guide students, being clear about what the
resource provides.”
When students come to the library and see a demo of the
digital library just when they need it, many gain a greater
appreciation of its value. Said Parker, “a lightbulb goes off
and they realize, ‘This is so cool. Can I get this off campus?’
And the answer is yes. Circulation closes at 9 p.m. After
that, there are no more print study guides. So they have to
rely on digital at that point.”
—BECKA RICHSENIOR ASSOCIATE DIRECTORShepard Broad College of Law, Panza Maurer Law Library
“We call this tutorial the ‘2 a.m. option.’ If it’s 2 a.m. and there’s no librarian available, they still can figure out how to use the tool.”
L E A R N I N G T O N A V I G A T E Orientation: The library director spends 45 minutes talking with students about how to use study guides and mentions the Q&A and Understanding series, both available via LexisNexis Digital Library. New students receive a library guide with digital library study aid access information.
Tours: A demo of the product is part of all tours for new students and new faculty. In addition, tour guides showing the College of Law to prospective students mention that the library has arranged for students to have study aids available online and cite the Understanding series as an example.
V I S U A L M E D I A Video: The reference librarians prepared a video for 2Ls and 3Ls demonstrating how to use the digital library. It’s posted on the Canvas course management system.
Slideshow in common student gathering area: As part of a monthly slideshow message rotation in the school’s atrium, the first database promotion of the year focuses on digital library access to the primary study aids.
I N - C L A S S T I P S A N D R E M I N D E R S
Academic skills for 1Ls: Reference librarians promote the digital library during presentations in the school’s academic skills classes.
Other classes: Reference librarians give presentations and promote the digital library to law students, law and medicine students, paralegal students who are part of the College of Law and evening students.
Links from the course management system: Librarians remind faculty members that students don’t have to buy case books and study aids—they can check them out of the digital library. A link within a class’s page on the Canvas course management system gives students easy access during and after the course.
LexisNexis representative assistance: During the school’s orientation tour and throughout the year at a table in the law school atrium, the LexisNexis rep helps build awareness of LexisNexis Digital Library, as well as other LexisNexis products. When the rep is not in the atrium, students at the table often promote LexisNexis Digital Library.
“To be successful, a digital library has to be used,” said Parker. “And to get to that, you have to
promote it. If people don’t know it’s there, they’re not going to use it. We can’t depend on serendipity,
per se, for them to find it like you can a book on a shelf. ... You also need to make it easy to get to.”
If you’re considering adding a digital library solution or you’d like to energize adoption, consider the
following best practices shared by Rich and Parker.
Best Practices for Driving Use of Your Digital Library
R E S O U R C E G U I D E D O C U M E N T S A N D C A T A L O G I N T E G R A T I O N
Database library guide on the library home page: This guide to all the library’s database offerings links to information about LexisNexis Digital Library and a tutorial. Said Rich, “We call this tutorial the ‘2 a.m. option.’ If it’s 2 a.m. and there’s no librarian available, they still can figure out how to use the tool.”
Specialized, librarian-curated resource guides for bar prep, clinics and academic success: These documents on the library home page link directly into study aids and practitioner eBooks in the digital library.
Library catalog integration: Parker has integrated LexisNexis Digital Library content into the school’s broader MAchine-Readable Cataloging (MARC) library records. If students search for a title like Questions & Answers, for example, the catalog will take them directly to the digital library. Students can use the catalog to look up a book by title or just type in the words digital library and access digital resources.
F A C U L T Y O U T R E A C H
Email: When Parker orders a digital study aid or textbook, she emails professors so they can add links to the course management system.
Newsletter: Information about the digital library is included several times each semester in a newsletter for law school faculty and staff.
Faculty course: The library offers a faculty resources course with materials and reminders linking to the digital library.
Faculty liaison program: Librarians go into every faculty office and demonstrate how to use the digital library. Said Rich, “Having the faculty help promote it through our faculty liaison program made a big difference.” She added, “When I went to my faculty liaisons and showed them how to use the digital library, you could almost hear jaws drop. One of them said, ‘this is so amazing that you provide this service to our students.’”
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Proven Results for the Library and Students
Reflecting on all the school’s initiatives to promote the
digital library, Rich stated, “You can see from our usage
stats that this outreach and training is working.”
In addition to increased usage, benefits gained via
LexisNexis Digital Library include convenience and cost
savings for the library and students. Said Rich, “Both
faculty and students appreciate the convenience and cost
savings. We have faculty who used to hesitate to assign
these books in print because of the cost but will now
assign them … this is a win-win for everybody involved:
Less work for our tech services department. And more
access for our students and faculty.”
Promotion and training related to LexisNexis Digital Library enabled Shepard Broad College of Law to build strong usage. The first fall semester for the digital library peaked at 992 checkouts. (Spring 2019 stats are partial at time of publishing.)
Spring 2018Jan – May
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
15K
12.5K
10K
7.5K
5.0K
2.5K
0274
Summer Break 2018June – July
42
992
282 and counting
Fall 2018Aug – Dec
Spring 2019Jan – Feb only
Digital library checkouts by semester
—BECKA RICHSENIOR ASSOCIATE DIRECTORShepard Broad College of Law, Panza Maurer Law Library
“We should be spending our funds in a way that most effectively supports student success … the students save money and view the library team as people who provide key information. That’s my definition of success.”
As reflected in total checkouts, in just over a year, 70 percent of faculty and students borrowed an eBook title from the Nova Southeastern digital library.
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The library staff saves significant time managing digital tiles vs. print.
Cost savings and convenience for the library: “In
measuring this, we look at a combination of usage and
cost/benefit ratio,” said Rich. The cost/benefit ratio
measurement is based on answers to these questions:
• How much time are we saving by having these
resources online as opposed to the cost of
processing physical books?
• How much money are we saving by not having
to buy as many books?
• How much are the students saving?
Parker added, “It’s not just the processing of the books,
but also the upkeep and man-hours to actually have
somebody man a circulation desk and check these in
and out by hand.”
The library team conservatively estimated this time
savings based on their experience with LexisNexis
Digital Library. With a work week of 37.5 hours, the
savings amounts to 10 weeks of staff time that can now
be spent more productively in assisting faculty
and students.
Cost savings and convenience for law students: The
library orders one copy of every required textbook
in print form for students. And now, many are also
available via eBook. The library also provides unlimited
digital access to study aids. Some non-clinic law
students use eBook practitioner materials when faculty
require those titles, said Parker. Students may check a
book out and read before they go to class so they no
longer need to carry the book around.
Cost savings and convenience for clinic students: The
value of remote access to books is significant for clinic
students. Even with limited seats for practitioner titles,
clinic students using the digital library have more access
than they would if we had bought a print copy for the
same purpose, said Rich. She added, “I’ve had clinic
students use some of the practitioner materials in court
when they were practicing. They’ve really liked having
that opportunity.”
12,000 minutes of maintenance time (reshelving, repair, following up on overdue books, etc.)
Estimated annual time savings, digital library vs. print
15K
12.5K
10K
7.5K
5.0K
2.5K
0274
4,000 minutes of processing time
6,500 minutes of circulation staff/customer service transaction time
4,000
6,500
12,000
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Slideshow image promoting LexisNexis Digital Library in law school atrium.
The law school’s database library guide includes a range of resources including this information and a LexisNexis Digital Library video tutorial link.
Cost savings and convenience for online students: Numerous students in the school’s online Master of Laws
program benefit from digital access to required books
without coming in to the library in person. Rich added, “So
many of our students are part time and may live an hour
or hour and a half away from here. Being able to access
that reserve material online is a huge boon for them … this
also helps our clinic students who are placed all over the
country doing their clinical work. Now they have access to
more materials.”
In addition to purchasing fewer books during the school
year, students also benefit from the ability to check books
out online before the semester begins. Said Rich, “Because
of how financial aid works, students don’t get access to
financial aid for buying books until about a week before
the semester starts. That’s an extremely small amount of
time before classes begin. But if they access their books
online in advance of class to save money, they can review
the books immediately.”
Providing students with convenience and costs savings
is a worthwhile use of library dollars, said Rich. “We live
in an environment where our budget gets cut frequently.
But things that help the students out also help us out.
We should be spending our funds in a way that most
effectively supports student success … the students save
money and view the library team as people who provide
key information. That’s my definition of success.”
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Parker shared a strategic suggestion for other law library
teams. “Because the director of our library and dean of the
law school view the library as the heart of the law school,
that puts us in a unique position among law libraries. We
get the cooperation of all departments in promoting these
materials,” Parker said. “This is something law library
directors at other schools might want to think about: ‘How
can I put myself in the position to get that cooperation?’”
Next Steps
Since digital library usage is up and the word is out, more
students may be looking for specific help when they are
on-site. With that in mind, the library is considering adding
a digital library walk-up station.
The library team is also considering putting stickers on
shelves regarding books available digitally to continue
building more awareness.
Are print books going away? Rich expects to keep providing
some practitioner books in print for the foreseeable future
to meet alumni needs. But in time the library plans to
eliminate print study guides completely since the digital
library provides unlimited access.
“We used to have a fairly extensive print study aid
collection,” said Rich. “But that’s both expensive and hard
to keep up. Honestly, the study guides are more difficult
to administer in print. There’s always a student who needs
to keep a book longer when we have only one copy. But
with the digital library titles, everyone gets access and
everybody wins.”
She added, “The feedback we’ve gotten is that this is really
a huge convenience and cost savings. Students and faculty
are very grateful that we have it.”
About Nova Southeastern and Shepard Broad College of Law The Nova Southeastern University
(NSU) Shepard Broad College of Law
offers degree and certificate programs
for law students, paralegals, practicing
lawyers and professionals expanding
their knowledge of law. NSU also offers
a Law Leadership Academy helping
students develop skills for successfully
practicing law through course work,
workshops and live client experiences
integrated through a specialized
curriculum.
About LexisNexis Legal & Professional LexisNexis Legal & Professional is
a leading global provider of legal,
regulatory and business information
and analytics that help professional
customers increase productivity,
improve decision-making and outcomes,
and advance the rule of law around the
world. As a digital pioneer, the company
was the first to bring legal and business
information online with its Lexis® and
Nexis® services. LexisNexis Legal &
Professional, which serves customers in
more than 130 countries with 10,000
employees worldwide, is part of RELX,
a global provider of information and
analytics for professional and business
customers across industries.
The opinions expressed within this article represent customer opinions. LexisNexis believes the experience conveyed in this article generally represents the experience found with other similar customer situations. However, each customer will have its own subjective goals and requirements and will subscribe to different combinations of LexisNexis services to suit those specific goals and requirements. This article may not be deemed to create any warranty or representation that any other customer’s experience will be the same as the experience identified herein. LexisNexis uses the customer’s trademarks herein with the customer’s permission.
E X P E R I E N C E A T A G L A N C E
Law school profile: Offering JD programs, dual degrees,
an online Master of Laws program for practicing
attorneys, an MS in Law for nonlawyers and a Paralegal
Certificate program, the Shepard Broad College of Law
provides flexible legal education to meet wide-ranging
student needs. The school is part of Nova Southeastern
University in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Business situation: With full-time, part-time and online
programs, the Shepard Broad College of Law has many
students living more than an hour away and others
located across the country working in law clinics. Flexible
access to course materials is essential. Solution: The dean has encouraged faculty and staff to
view the Panza Maurer Law Library as central to student
success. The library team works with other departments
to provide ongoing outreach, resource training and
guidance to make sure all types of students can access
vital resources when they need them.
P R O D U C T S U M M A R Y
LexisNexis® Digital Library provides a library
management solution with legal eBooks for required
study guides and practitioner materials. Students have
access from anywhere—online or offline—even when
the library is closed. This offering provides a book-like
reading format with annotation and highlighting tools
and links to the Lexis Advance service.
LexisNexis, Lexis, Nexis, Lexis Advance and the Knowledge Burst logo are registered trademarks of RELX Inc. Other products or services may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. © 2019 LexisNexis. OFF04357-0 0319
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